Mina Rose Is the Culture-Melding Music-Making Londoner You Need To Know Today

Mina Rose is a modern musical enigma. You can’t place her into just one genre and that’s exactly what she wants – not to be boxed and as she says, “to push boundaries”. But one thing is for certain, she sure knows where she is from.

London is the epicentre of Mina’s artistry. She told Miss Vogue, “I am a product of everything that’s surrounded me growing up. I’m inspired by the area I grew up in London and its history. London is so multicultural with a lot going on all at once and that’s something I always want to reflect in my music”. With relatives involved in varied genres and areas of the music industry including ska bands, house production, reggae-singing, Mina takes these influences head-on, in turn, creating her own concoction of sounds and genres as seen in her fresh and neoteric EP Issue 25 that was released in 2017.

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Now, Mina is back with her second EP London Burning and it does not disappoint. The EP follows tradition in the blending of genres, but this time, London – and as written, the burning of London – is at the forefront of her album where Mina really wants you to listen. She commented, “it’s just my real, honest view of how I see London at the moment”. With lyrics that bare social and political gravitas, accompanied with complex blends of genres and heavier musical production than what we saw in her previous album, London Burning is a continuum of Mina's musical journey and upward trajectory as a gripping, modern artist.

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What’s your approach to writing lyrics?

I like to visually describe feelings. I imagine a scenario, almost like creating visuals in my head when I think about what’s going on around me at the moment but it’s not necessarily always political. For example, when I imagine someone sitting down, thinking or reflecting internally, I envision them sitting on the floor in a room with red walls and that’s one of the visual metaphors I use in my song “Paradise”.

“Ashes” particularly stood out from your EP as an angry anthem. What inspired the song?

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I wrote “Ashes” two days after Grenfell – it seemed wrong to think about anything else at the time and wanted it to be an empowering song. Grenfell struck home because when I was younger, I was living in a flat and went to Brownies to a fire brigade. The fireman told us to draw a floor plan of our houses, marking the fire escape in case your kitchen was on fire. He said that as I didn’t have a fire escape there was nothing else for me to do except shout out the window. I wanted to capture that calm before the storm, when you’re panicking and you just have to accept your fate. I imagined people at the top, finding some peace in that moment where they see green fields beyond the city and an orange glow. I wanted to create beauty out of that situation because it’s all you can do with something so horrific. The chorus is particularly angry as it reflects my how I felt towards the lack of initial support after the incident.

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Was “Ashes” the main source of inspiration for your EP?

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Visually, I was seeing a lot of fire and the colours red and orange. Politically, I feel as if London is falling, burning down, and that the whole system has to be burnt, rebuilt again in order for change. This theme runs through most of the songs, even in “Dayz” which is the light-hearted song about chilling on the balcony, looking over London. I thought the title brought the whole album together. “London Burning Interlude” is also my neighbour just talking about what he thought of the situation in London, which I then added a beat to - it just all works.

How do you think you’ve grown as an artist since Issue 25?

I’ve been braver with London Burning. The first project was about reaching people, hence it’s a bit lighter and more about dancing. This project is about listening and hearing. It might take a while for people to understand the lyrics so you have to listen to it a couple of times. That’s the music I enjoy where you discover the music, see more layers the more you listen. I’ve definitely experimented more with sounds become more comfortable with my ideas with London Burning - it’s my honest and real view of London where I’m not trying to sugarcoat anything.